Silver Lake is a residential and commercial neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California, built around a city reservoir which gives the district its name. (However, the "Silver" in Silver Lake is not because of the water's color, but named for the local engineer who built the reservoir). It's known for its restaurants and clubs, and many notable people have made their homes there. The neighborhood has three public and four private schools.

Street and other boundaries are: the Los Angeles River between Glendale Boulevard and Fletcher Drive and Riverside Drive on the northeast, the Glendale Freeway on the east, Effie Street, Coronado Street, Berkeley Avenue and Fletcher Drive on the southeast, the Hollywood Freeway on the south, Hoover Street on the west and Fountain Avenue and Hyperion Avenue on the northwest.[4] The prime real estate around the lake is known by realtors as the "Moreno Highlands."

The Silver Lake neighborhood council has mapped the boundaries of its council region.[5]

Neighborhood[edit]

During the 1930s, Walt Disney built his first large studio in Silver Lake at the corner of Griffith Park Boulevard and Hyperion Avenue, now the site of Gelson's Market. As consequence, the name "Hyperion" is of great significance to the Walt Disney Company, with many company entities carrying the name, such as Hyperion Books and the Hyperion Theater in Disneyland.

The Hyperion Bridge in eastern Silver Lake near the I-5 freeway

A few blocks away on Glendale Boulevard was the studio of Tom Mix. The location is now occupied by the Mixville shopping center. It is rumored that Mix buried his steed "Tony, the Wonder Horse" on the property. The neighborhood is crisscrossed by numerous municipal staircases that provide pedestrian access up and down the neighborhood's signature hills. Among these are the Descanso Stairs, Redcliffe Stairs and the Music Box Stairs. The famous flight of stairs in Laurel and Hardy's film The Music Box are located between lower Descanso Drive and Vendome Street, as it winds up and around the hill.

As of 2013, Silver Lake is represented by Los Angeles City Council Members Mitch O'Farrell and Tom LaBonge and the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council.[7] The Silver Lake Neighborhood Council was formed in the early 2000s and certified as part of the City of Los Angeles Neighborhood Council system in February, 2003. Its 21-member Governing Board is elected for two-year terms in September.[8] Recent projects have included "Street Medallions" created by artist Cheri Gaulke, "ArtCans", the "Electrical Art Box Project", and the second annual "Make Music LA"[9] created by several different artists, groups, and the SLNC Arts & Culture Committee, whose current co-chairs are Charles C. Renn and Amy Clarke.[10]

The Silver Lake Residents Association,[11] Silver Lake Improvement Association,[12] Silver Lake Reservoirs Conservancy,[13] and the Silver Lake Chamber of Commerce,[14] are all active in the area.

In the community of Silver Lake lies the namesake reservoir composed of two basins, with the lower named Silver Lake and the upper named Ivanhoe. The lower body of water was named in 1906 for Water Board Commissioner Herman Silver, and in turn lends its name to the neighborhood. The upper body received its name after the 1819 Sir Walter Scott novel Ivanhoe.[16]

The reservoirs are owned and maintained by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP), and could provide water to 600,000 homes in downtown and South Los Angeles;[17] however, only the smaller of the two, Ivanhoe, remains online. At capacity, they hold 795 million gallons of water. The Silver Lake Reservoir's water resources will be replaced by an underground reservoir in Griffith Park, slated for completion in January 2015.[18]

Also within the grounds of the reservoir are several popular recreational facilities --- the Silver Lake Recreation Center, which includes an adjacent city park; the Silver Lake Walking Path, which circumvents the reservoirs (2.25 miles); and the Silver Lake Meadow, modeled after N.Y.C.'s Central Park Sheep Meadow. On the northeast corner of the property is the Neighborhood Nursery School, which since 1976 has been at the corner of Tesla Avenue and East Silver Lake Boulevard. It is a parent participation cooperative preschool, affiliated with the California Council of Parent Participation Nursery Schools.[19][20]

Population[edit]

The 2000 U.S. census counted 30,972 residents in the 2.75 square miles (7.1 km2) neighborhood—an average of 11,266 people per square mile, about the same population density as in the rest of the city. In 2008 the city estimated that the population had increased to 32,890. The median age for residents was 35, about average for Los Angeles, but the percentages of residents aged 19 to 49 were among the county's highest.[4]

The neighborhood was highly diverse ethnically. The breakdown was Latinos, 41.8%; whites, 34%; Asians, 18%; blacks, 3.2%, and others, 3.1%. Mexico (26.6%) and the Philippines (15.7%) were the most common places of birth for the 41% of the residents who were born abroad, about the same rate as the city at large.[4]

The median yearly household income in 2008 dollars was $54,339, about the same as the rest of Los Angeles, but a high rate of households earned $20,000 or less per year. The average household size of 2.3 people was low for the city of Los Angeles. Renters occupied 64.3% of the housing stock, and house or apartment owners the rest.[4]

The percentages of never-married men (52.6%) and never-married women (38.6%) were among the county's highest.[4] Both stats are likely due to the large numbers of LGBT members of the community and the large numbers of young hipsters.

Education[edit]

Thirty-six percent of the neighborhood residents aged 25 and older had earned a four-year degree by 2000, an average figure for the city.[4]

Entertainment and night life[edit]

Silver Lake, known as one of "the city's hippest neighborhoods",[24] has many bars, night clubs and restaurants.

Since the 1990s, Silver Lake has become the center of the alternative and indie rock scene in Los Angeles. The neighborhood was home to two major street festivals each year: the Silver Lake Jubilee,[25] held in May and the Sunset Junction Street Fair, held in August. The last festival was held in 2010. It was abruptly cancelled in 2011 just days before it was supposed to take place after years of neighborhood controversy.[26] The Silver Lake Jubilee, a more recent addition, featured live music by local musicians, local artists and community businesses. It moved out of the neighborhood to private grounds near the Los Angeles River and changed its name as of 2013.[27]

Since the indie rock music scene is particularly prominent in this neighborhood, comparisons are often drawn between Silver Lake and New York City's Williamsburg district. As a result, it is sometimes referred to as the "Williamsburg of the West".[28][29]